WALES

For two weeks in November 2008, I had the privilege of my first field trip to India.  There I saw first-hand the great work The Leprosy Mission is doing in our ongoing fight against leprosy and its effects. The whole time was spent in Uttar Pradesh, India's mid-northern state that borders Nepal. My travelling companion for the trip was Allister du Plessis, the Area Co-ordinator for the West Central area.

In Delhi, we saw the impressive work in education, training and resourcing being done at the South Asia Regional Office.  After Delhi, we headed southeast on the overnight sleeper train and arrived at The Leprosy Mission's community hospital in Naini. Here, as everywhere we visited, staff work with great dedication and personal sacrifice.  They bring hope and help to those who otherwise would have neither, both in the hospital and out in the community. I appreciated afresh how blessed we are in the UK to have good medical services so easily available, and such a relatively high standard of living, something the majority in Uttar Pradesh can only dream of. All the staff deserve our admiration, but Drs Premal and Loretta Das stand out for their leadership of the work and their remarkable work in treating patients and in training other doctors from across India in leprosy and its treatment. Premal's father and grandfather worked for the mission, so for him, as he said, it's almost a family business!

Then we were off again along the roughest road I've ever travelled, feeling, as Allister well described us, like washing that had been through the spin cycle! But it was worth the trip to be in Faizabad, not just a hospital this time, but also a training centre where up to a hundred young boys and girls are trained in vocational skills to equip them for the world of work, and all within a caring Christian context, with daily worship and the care of lovely Christian house-parents. This is life-changing work on an impressive scale.

Sadly, soon we were back in Delhi and then off to the airport and the UK - after short-sleeve weather in India we arrived back in a hail storm! But what a great experience India was, one that made us realise more than ever what a difference The Leprosy Mission is making, and how vital it is that we all continue our efforts to support the work. India is counting on us!